Eto kako javlja NASA 2013. bi nas trebala "pogoditi" velika Sunčeva oluja. Kažu da bi mogla paralizirati cijeli svijet odnosno "unišiti" sve elektrane i komunikacijske satelite, srušiti internet... Takva oluja se već dogodila 1859 te je srušila telegrafsku mrežu u Europi i SAD-u, ali tada svijet nije toliko ovisio o električnoj energiji. Sada se pozivaju znanstvenici da smisle način kako da taj događaj što bezbolnije prođe.
Što vi mislite o tome?
A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a similar storm occurred today, it could cause $1 to 2 trillion in damages to society's high-tech infrastructure and require four to ten years for complete recovery. For comparison, Hurricane Katrina caused "only" $80 to 125 billion in damage.
The latest forecast revises an earlier prediction issued in 2007. At that time, a sharply divided panel believed solar minimum would come in March 2008 followed by either a strong solar maximum in 2011 or a weak solar maximum in 2012. Competing models gave different answers, and researchers were eager for the sun to reveal which was correct.
In recent months, however, the sun has begun to show timorous signs of life. Small sunspots and "proto-sunspots" are popping up with increasing frequency. Enormous currents of plasma on the sun’s surface ("zonal flows") are gaining strength and slowly drifting toward the sun’s equator. Radio astronomers have detected a tiny but significant uptick in solar radio emissions. All these things are precursors of an awakening Solar Cycle 24 and form the basis for the panel's new, almost unanimous forecast.
Low solar activity has a profound effect on Earth’s atmosphere, allowing it to cool and contract. Space junk accumulates in Earth orbit because there is less aerodynamic drag. The becalmed solar wind whips up fewer magnetic storms around Earth's poles. Cosmic rays that are normally pushed back by solar wind instead intrude on the near-Earth environment. There are other side-effects, too, that can be studied only so long as the sun remains quiet.
"Go ahead and mark your calendar for May 2013," says Pesnell. "But use a pencil."